The Reston TSD road tax proposal you are considering is a
sham based on erroneous assumptions, defective logic, and inaccurate official public
statements.

The greatest fiction in this tax scheme is the foundation
assumption that Fairfax County faces a $350 million “funding gap” for improving
Reston station area streets over four decades.Of that so-called gap, FCDOT proposes that $139 million should be paid
by a Transportation Service District (TSD) tax on Reston station area property
owners.That includes an estimated
$40-$45 million on owned residences.That’s
about $1 million per year in added homeowner taxes in 2016 dollars.

In fact, there is no gap.In making this assumption, FCDOT implicitly declares that Reston
homeowners must be taxed because:

The County cannot
move any current tax revenues in its $4 billion budget to improve Reston’s
streets.

The County can’t use
any future station area property tax revenues to invest in Reston’s streets.

The County can never raise
the rates on any county-wide taxes that would help generate billions in future
tax revenues.

To insist on these assumptions is an outright falsehood, and
FCDOT and you know it.

Moreover, the idea that homeowners should pay a special
tax to meet a basic infrastructure requirement is ludicrous.How many of you pay a special annual tax for improvements
in public streets or intersections near your homes?The answer is “None.”No, our public streets are a collective
County asset, not the funding responsibility of neighborhood homeowners.

If logic were actually applied, it would dictate that only
those who benefit financially from the street improvements would pay for
them.Two parties benefit:Developers through profits averaging over $1
billion per year on their Reston station area development, and the County
through some $11 billion in future station area property tax revenues.

Moreover, if Reston’s developers can’t afford an added $1
million per year contribution to their road fund out of the $45 billion in profits
they will likely earn in the next four decades, they really shouldn’t be in
business in Reston.

Worst of all, this scheme calls for 87% of homeowners’
future taxes to be spent on building streets on the grid’s periphery that will
generate more traffic and would otherwise not be built because adjoining development
would not be profitable.From homeowners
pockets to developer profits.That’s not even happening in Tysons.

Homeowners, on the other hand, will not earn an
additional penny and, contrary to official statements, they will face more
congested streets under the RNAG plan as a result of your decision to lower urban
traffic service standards.

In one line, this taxation scheme calls for Reston
homeowners to pay more for less.

Yet the County continues to flog the proposal with
inaccurate and incomplete statements.

It “assumes” that the
proposed tax rate will remain flat, but this is a teaser rate that will
escalate quickly.

It rejects the need
to invest in any additional bus service despite the planned doubling of Reston
station area population and jobs.

It fails to
acknowledge that any “sunset provision” in the scheme could be easily
eliminated by the Board.

This entire endeavor is political theater to legitimize a
Board-driven effort to create another tax revenue stream.If this is approved, you will likely use the
same bogus approach to create comparable tax districts in the dozen or so other
County re-development areas identified in last year’s zoning ordinance
amendment.

Stop the phony political theatrics to justify a dishonest
scheme.Manage County spending rather than
creating deceitful gimmicks to add to Reston homeowners’ growing tax burden.Stop this unjustified and unfair tax now.

About Reston 20/20 Planning Initiative

The goal of the Reston 20/20 Committee is to elicit, organize, and represent to government officials on key community issues a vision of what Reston's citizens believe a 21st Century Reston should become.

This blog intends to share information, elicit feedback, and generate ideas and dialogue pertinent to the activities of the Committee and the Task Force on a timely basis. We strongly encourage reader participation in this blog through constructive comments, ideas, and questions in comments or articles.

To post a comment, simply click on the "Comments" button and a blank space will show up for you to enter your comment. You may link comment to one of the identified services, post your name, or even post anonymously. The comments are moderated to ensure appropriate content--relevant, constructive, and decent. ALL points of view are welcome.

Readers may post articles they have writtenon Reston's planning efforts by submitting them to terrmayn@ yahoo.comas the text in an e-mail or either a .DOC or .PDF formatted document. We request you provide a point of contact to verify your identity. Your name, affiliation (if any), and city where you are located will be included with each article unless you wish to remain anonymous. All articles and comments will be moderated to ensure appropriate substance and language.

All Restonians are invited to participate in the Reston 20/20Committee. The committee is co-chaired by Tammi Petrine and Terry Maynard.All of its meetings are open to the public and every viewpoint is welcome . Meeting times, places, and agendas will be posted on this blog. You are strongly encouraged to attend and participate in these meetings.

Make a difference--VOLUNTEER for Reston!

The Reston 20/20 Committee is looking for Reston residents willing to help the committee advance a citizen's view of the future of Reston. Your participation may be as much--or as little--as you would like, starting with participation in periodic Reston 20/20 meetings.

If you're interested in keeping Reston a great place to live, work, & play, please contact Tammi Petrine (para1010@verizon.net) to be put on the Reston 20/20 mailing list. If you wish to volunteer, let her know your interests, abilities, and so forth, so we can match you to Reston 20/20's needs.